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New releases

Ⓐaron

Factiō Rēpūblicāna dēlenda est.
AKA
The Man, V
A lot of new albums have come out lately so I'm going to post mini-reviews of them, and will continue to do so as I listen to more of them :monster:

Enslaved - In Times

Enslaved always deliver and this album is no exception. This has their longest average song length since their début. Not a single song is under eight minutes in length. This is one of their most progressive and sophisticated albums to date, as the band take full advantage of the increased song length to supply even more complex compositions than usual, but there's still plenty of heaviness for people who can't abide Enslaved without it, and the songwriting is as compelling as ever. A welcome addition to an always enthralling band's discography.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress'

Godspeed's first album of all-new material since their reunion doesn't disappoint (2012's 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! had two pieces that dated back to 2003 as its centrepieces). If you're averse to the increased drone influence that's permeated Godspeed's material since their reunion, this album, which has been performed live dating back to 2012 (as "Behemoth") won't do anything to change your mind, but otherwise this is some of the most compelling material Godspeed has released to date, with the drone sections helping to build tension in a manner that becomes almost unbearable before the album's fantastic final movement, "Piss Crowns Are Trebled", sets in. This movement ranks among the finest compositions of Godspeed's career and is a fitting conclusion to a gripping album.

Liturgy - The Ark Work

I'm still not really sure what to make of this record, other than that I like it a lot. This album is an organic synthesis of black metal, glitch, hip-hop, and about a dozen other styles, and nothing like it exists. It's so utterly confounding that multiple reviewers outright accused band leader Hunter Hunt-Hendrix of trolling his audience (which, given some of his past behaviour, is a pretty easy motivation to believe of him), but the album has a lot more to it beyond simply attempting to confound its audience's expectations. Beyond the fact that nothing like this has ever existed before, there's some genuinely compelling music here, and it leads me to hope other people will be inspired by this record to create similar music. The fact that the band's performance throughout (particularly the work of drummer Greg Fox) is superb doesn't hurt matters either.

SoulReaper will hate it :monster:

Sigh - Graveward

A band without a dud in its discography keeps up its winning streak. This time around they've gone about calling themselves "cinematic horror metal", which seems a pretty good description of their work on this album. The album is every bit as eclectic as we've come to expect from Sigh and the compositions and arrangements are, if anything, even more complex than those of a typical Sigh album. (Good luck counting the meter in the compound meter section of opening track "Kaedit Nox Pestis"). While some people have compared the production of this album to the lo-fi production of Scenes from Hell, the instrumentation is a lot clearer on this album (except the bass) and the mastering is miles better, with better dynamic range and no clipping. Overall this is a rewarding work that grows more interesting with every spin.

Drudkh - A Furrow Cut Short

Drudkh seem to have been drifting for their last several releases, with a rather erratic style and experiments that often seemed less than enthusiastically carried out. With this album, which is their longest to date, they actually go back to their roots (which has been claimed with the last several Drudkh releases and actually happens here). Most of the pieces on this album are epic, old-school black metal that wouldn't have felt out of place on their tuneful début, Forgotten Legends. The songwriting on this album is consistently gripping and the performances are supremely earnest. For me, this is the most compelling album Drudkh have released since at least 2009's Microcosmos, if not 2006's Blood in Our Wells (I'll need to review their discography, a lot of which I haven't listened to in awhile, to solidify the rankings).

More stuff to come later :monster:
 
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